Little attention was brought to the recent passing of Miep Gies, the Dutch woman who helped to safeguard Anne Frank from Nazi persecution during WWII. Even her name itself is unfamiliar to many. Gies' story is a testimony of selfless devotion to others in need, coupled with a deep sense of humility that portrays a truly remarkable everyday hero.
Gies, along with the help of her husband and three colleagues, risked their own lives from July 1942 to August 1944 by concealing the whereabouts of eight Jewish escapees from German and Dutch authorities—a crime punishable by arrest and subsequent deportation to Nazi concentration camps. The group of eight was comprised two families—the Franks and the van Pels—as well as a friend of the Frank family, Fritz Pfeffer. Their hideaway was a secret annex located above the Frank family business in Amsterdam.
Over the two-year period, Gies provided material and moral support for the group in hiding. She made regular visits to the secret annex where the families locked themselves away from the outside world. Gies provided them with groceries, news from the outside world, and even library books on a weekly basis in an effort to keep their minds off the strenuous living conditions.
In her diary, Anne Frank, expressed her deep admiration and respect for Gies and the other helpers:
“The best example of this is our own helpers, who have managed to pull us through so far and will hopefully bring us safely to shore, because otherwise they'll find themselves sharing the fate of those they're trying to protect. Never have they uttered a single word about the burden we must be, never have they complained that we're too much trouble. They come upstairs every day and talk to the men about business and politics, to the women about food and wartime difficulties and to the children about books and newspapers. They put on their most cheerful expressions, bring flowers and gifts for birthdays and holidays and are always ready to do what they can. That's something we should never forget; while others display their heroism in battle or against the Germans, our helpers prove theirs every day by their good spirits and affection.”1
After an unknown informant tipped off the Nazi SS of the whereabouts of the occupants in August 1944, most—including Frank—were sent off to their death to the Auschwitz concentration camps. An Austrian SS soldier, recognizing Gies’ native Austrian accent, left her behind “out of personal sympathy”2. Gies soon came upon Frank’s diary and kept it safe until returning to Anne’s father, Otto, who then published it under the name The Diary of a Young Girl in 1947.
Up until Gies’ death at the age of 100, she received praise and admiration from around the world for her courageous efforts. Gies, however, never saw herself as a hero. In her memoirs entitled Anne Frank Remembered: The Story of the Woman Who Helped Hide the Frank Family, she writes:
“More than twenty thousand Dutch people helped to hide Jews and others in need of hiding during those years. I willingly did what I could to help. My husband did as well. It was not enough.”
“There is nothing special about me. I have never wanted special attention. I was only willing to do what was asked of me and what seemed necessary at the time.”3
SOURCES
1,2,3 http://www.miepgies.nl/en/
